Something to Pass On
by HecateA
Summary: Remus had always assumed that this family heirloom would be burried with him, but he has protected this ring adamantly nevertheless. Oneshot.


**Author's Note: **Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings: **Loss of parent

* * *

**Stacked with: **MC4A; Shipping War; Animal Verses; Ornate Oscillating Obelisks; Remains of War

**Individual Challenge(s): **Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Bow Before the Blacks; Seeds; Golden Times; Old Shoes; Themes and Things A (New Beginnings); Themes and Things B (Loss); True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion; In a Flash

**Representation(s): **Remus Lupin; loss of a parent; relationship; marriage

**Bonus challenge(s):** Creature Feature; Second Verse (Odd Feathers); Chorus (Middle Name)

**Tertiary bonus challenge: **Oath

**Word Count: **1064

* * *

_**Shipping Wars**_

**Ship (Team): **Nymphadora Tonks/Remus Lupin (Technicolour Moon)

**List (Prompt): **Summer Medium 1 (Jewelry)

* * *

**Something to Pass On**

After being on his feet and on the go and at somebody's service for about twelve hours, he sat down.

And immediately he crumpled.

He dropped his head in his hands and bent in two, sighing deeply. He forced the air in and out of his lungs for as many rounds as he could—until he heard footsteps.

He looked up and there was his Dad, dazed and lurking in the doorway.

"Dad," he said, wiping at his eyes. "Hey, Dad. Do you need anything?"

He shook his head but didn't say anything. Both of them were equally hopelessly lost. Dad took a step forward and held out his hand, passing over Mum's wedding ring.

"You should keep this," Remus said.

Dad shook his head.

"I bought it for her to have, I don't want it back. She'd want you to have it. You can keep it if you want, or find someone else to give it to when the time is right…"

"I won't." Remus said quietly. This he knew already—had always known. What an awful topic to discuss on the day his mother had also died.

Dad was quiet, just as cognizant of his faux-pas, apparently.

"Well, she'd want you to have it," he finally said.

Remus took it and tucked it in his breast pocket.

* * *

Lily lifted a spare chain from her jewellery box.

"Here," she said, passing it to him. She pooled the chain into his outstretched hand. "String it on this, that way you won't lose it."

"Thank you," Remus said, just as mechanically as everything he'd said sounded for the last few days. He looped the ring on the chain, slipped it around his neck, and tucked the new necklace into his shirt.

Lily took his arm and rested her head against his shoulder.

"I know you're careful with your things, but I wouldn't want you to lose that," Lily said. "It's precious. And you might want to reuse it one day."

"I doubt the opportunity will arise," Remus said.

Lily bit her tongue.

"Just keep it safe," she said. Remus wasn't sure if that was an order or a suggestion.

* * *

Remus hated pawning, but he did get a few galleons for an overall insignificant portion of his book collection, so today wasn't bad.

"Thank you," he said, accepting the payment.

"You know what'd make you real money?" the clerk said. He nudged his head towards Remus' chest. "That ring you've got on you."

Remus' blood chilled.

"That's not for sale," he said quietly.

"I'm just saying mate, I only need so many books. And one day, maybe…"

"I'll starve," Remus interrupted him. "Have a good day."

* * *

They were pulling drapes out of a chest and Tonks coughed at the smell.

"That's particularly foul," Remus said, joining her in her laboured breathing.

"Bloody hell," Tonks choked. "I wish I could do away with my nose entirely…"

"Ah, so there is a limit to the one thousand and one faces of Nymphadora Tonks after all," Remus said.

Somehow, he got away with calling her 'Nymphadora' that time. Together, they managed to stuff the disgusting drapes into a garbage bag enchanted to devour its content and quench any smells.

"I'll open a window," Remus said.

"Fresh air, good plan," Tonks nodded. He pushed it open, and turned back to her. She was looking around the room, running her fingers against the elegant but faded wallpaper.

"I know cleaning this house is a royal pain, but it is quite a nice place," Tonks noted, looking around. "I didn't hear anything about it growing up, but I was always somewhat curious."

"It is," Remus added. Tonks had moved on to examine a collection of jewellery boxes on the counter.

"You know," she said. "My dad's family passed when he was quite young and what with Mum being a blood traitor, we didn't have a lot of family heirlooms around. I always thought it would be nice to live in a really old house, or to have an object with that much weight and history to it."

"I think it's nice and it's important," Remus agreed. "But I think there's such a thing as too much weight."

Tonks cocked her head to the side inquisitively. He'd noticed that as something of a habit of hers, and smiled slightly. Maybe because it _was _so endearing, he reached into his shirt and retrieved the ring.

"It used to be my mother's," he explained. She came closer to investigate.

"It's beautiful."

"It is," he nodded. "But sometimes I'm not sure why I wear it around, as if I'll wear it around forever."

"Things are allowed to just exist and be important," Tonks said. "No explanation needed."

* * *

"Can I ask you a favour Molly?" Remus asked quietly.

"Of course, dear," she said, drying her hands on a tea towel. "Anything at all."

Remus carefully took off the chain. He felt naked without it.

"Can you keep this for me while I'm in the werewolf colony?" Remus said.

Molly frowned, but nodded and held her hand open. Remus passed it along.

She examined the treasure in her hand before looking up at him again, a strange expression that looked both sad and bewildered on her face.

"Why are you asking me to keep this for you?" Molly asked. "I happily will, but why me? Why not..?"

"Please," Remus pleaded. "I'm not trying to pass it on. I just need it somewhere safe, so nothing happens to it."

Molly looked like she had more to say, but she bit it back and waved her wand. A box fluttered down from a high kitchen cabinet. Molly whispered a spell to open it, and she deposited the ring inside before locking the box again.

"It'll be safe, dear," she promised.

* * *

Remus grabbed Dora's hand, pulling her back.

"I don't want you to regret a small wedding," he told her. "I don't care—I never would have dared to dream of this, but if you had other dreams, we can wait and make them happen…"

"I don't care either," Dora said, looping an arm around his neck. "I just want us to get this paper and go live our lives. And I don't need a ring, if that's what you're worried about."

"Oh no," Remus said, reaching into his shirt. "The ring just so happens to be the one thing that I do have."


End file.
